To the Brink - A Padawan Serbrina story
by Darthb
Summary: 2500BBY. In the middle of a centuries long cold war between the Sith Empire and the Republic, Jedi Master Olpa is found dead on Nar Shaddaa. Now as Olpa's Padawan, Serbrina faces the Jedi Council and their suspicions. A rogue Council Master intervenes, giving her a second chance as a Jedi, and to find her true past.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was impossible to really the people around you. Even the ones closest to you, that spent years teaching and training you. They would always have their own secrets, their own thoughts, and in some cases die alone in the posh manor of a cartel boss. Leaving their Padawan alone in an apartment on Nar Shaddaa. The way Padawan Serbrina's Master had. The Jedi order investigated and concluded that it was a deal gone bad. The Master Olpa had been working with the Exchange, passing along information and keeping them a step ahead of authorities. Serbrina did not believe it at first, but there was evidence enough to form the conclusion, and one of the Council Masters had said that it 'felt right in the force'. Whatever that meant. Serbrina knew exactly what that meant. Her master had lied to her.

Six years she had been Master Olpa's Padawan. Olpa had raised her and taught her. As Serbrina got older she started including her more and more into various missions and their supposed payouts. Serbrina had been taught at the Temple on Coruscant, that a Jedi did not work for money. When she told Master Olpa that, the Master replied with, "how will you buy food to eat if that was so? We aren't ambassadors nor attached to the military, so we must provide for ourselves."

Recently, Olpa had been acquiring the finer things. Clothes were the start, but not the finish, that was the yacht docked in the orbital shipyard. Serbrina went to question the amount of money Olpa was getting from the missions they were doing, but Olpa surprised Serbrina with a fine silk and leather bodysuit for her birthday. The leather was sleeveless Echani under-armor that was worn under battle armor and combat suits. It was less than modest on its own, the pants portion of the suit was form fitting from the feet to the small of her back, while the top was sleeveless with exposed skin on the sides from the waist to the arms. It had slight collar to resist chafing on the neck and narrow shoulders. The leather was soft but durable designed solely to keep the armor from chafing the skin. The Echani had styled their armor to be flexible and maneuverable to match their artful martial arts. To Make up for the lack of modesty the red silk was stitched over the leather, giving the outfit sleeves, covered sides, and a skirt that hung low enough to cover her defined backside. Serbrina knew it had been expensive, more expensive than a Jedi could ever hope to afford, but she loved it.

Her protest stopped after that. Serbrina never really agreed with the material things her Master would obtain, but it was not her place to question. Besides, they were both Jedi. Her Master was sworn to serve the Light-side of the Force. Serbrina had even started collecting more Echani under-armor for herself, having fallen in love with the style.

She had been wrong. Her Master had been in the employ of the most notorious and ruthless criminal organization in the galaxy, the Exchange. Master Olpa had been selling them information on planetary governments, the closed-door meetings of the Republic Senate, and kept the Jedi from capturing all but the most useless cells. They had not working undercover to bring down an Exchange cell, her master had been the Cell. Serbrina should have known that the fine clothes, the luxury ship, it had all been there right in front of her. She did not see it. She had not wanted to see it. Not to mention that she had incriminated herself with a footlocker full of expensive clothing.

Now she was being passed off to a new master to complete her Padawan training, if there was even a Master that wanted to take her. There wasn't a target age for the Knight Trials, but two people she had grown up with had already passed their Trails. She was still Padawan, not even a Knight-Aspirant like most her age. Not to mention she had been blind to her Master, former Master, being an Exchange agent. She wasn't meant to be a Jedi and would fail her Padawan training, be sent a farming world to live out her days in disgrace. She could see it on the faces of the Council seated in a semi-circle around her. She was done, it was only a matter of time.

The Masters took turns asking her about Master Olpa. They asked why Serbrina didn't report the unusual activity, if she thought fine clothes and material possessions were the Jedi way, but what they really wanted to know was if she was like her former Master. Serbrina knew her shame was palpable in the force. She was as open and honest as she could be, knowing that they would know otherwise. It didn't matter if her answers made her look bad, she already looked bad, it mattered if she was honest or not. Honesty would be her saving grace, if she was able to be honest.

When one Master asked if she be willing to toss aside her beloved outfit and to renounce Master Olpa, Serbrina said yes, but she wasn't willing. Master Olpa had been right about one thing, the clothes are clothes, the ship a ship, none of them made a Jedi any better or worse. It was character of the Jedi that did that. Serbrina could wear fancy clothes and be charitable, just as easily she could wear rags and be inhumane. Material things were a temptation sure, but so was knowledge itself. It was the temptation of knowledge that created the first Sith, not a fancy robe.

It felt as if days had passed as they asked her questions. Probed her thought process. Evaluated her through the Force. In reality only an hour had passed. Finally, they took a small break to talk amongst themselves, leaving Serbrina to stand in the center of the semi-circle and eavesdrop on the conversation. They talked as if she was not there, not caring or concerned that she could hear them. It was a display and a test. They were testing her reaction to what they were saying, her emotions to their words were more honest than any words she could say. The display was in their ability to have this conversation with her there. They were so centered and in control of their emotions that they could be honest in the remarks with her present. Serbrina tried to keep her mind clear and not listen to what they were saying, but it was beyond difficult.

She was done. She had failed. Serbrina was everything they didn't want her to be and she would be cast out. Everything they were, but they hid it well enough that others could dismiss it without losing sleep. Minor vanities, they called it. Not an issue until a Master ended up a dead traitor. She didn't hate them, but she was judging them, guilty of the same crimes that quietly accuse her of. She picked each one out with her eyes and listed what was 'Unbecoming a Jedi'. Robes made with exotic materials. Lightsaber inlayed with precious metals. Holding power, both militarily and politically.

Each Master Serbrina looked at and judged would get eyed by the other Masters. It was if they could hear her though she wasn't speaking. Each of them having the same thought as the others, believing Serbrina's internal voice to be their own. It was fascinating to Master Sool. He stood outside the Council chamber, the only room at the top of the central tower of the Temple, listening to the voice in his head describe the faults of the Jedi Council. He had not been overly close with Master Olpa. He knew her, but their relationship as always been one akin to a student asking a teacher's advice. The last question she had asked had been on Force powers related to illusion and persuasion. When her crimes came to light, he had assumed that her inquiry had been to aid her criminal endeavors.

Now, he knew he had been wrong, and was glad he listened to the Force when it drew him back to Coruscant. He stepped into the chamber for the first time in two decades.

"Master Sool." one of the Masters said in shock. The man walking in was wearing a drab robe, that was holed in many places, probably had not been washed in weeks or months.

Serbrina noticed the empty seat in the semi-circle. She had been in the Council tower many times, that seat had always been empty. Now an old man, with a walking stick taller than her, was lowering himself into it and making noises of discomfort as he adjusted himself in the chair.

"It is the chairs, Master Pu'io, they do not agree with me." The old man, Master Sool. responded a trace of humor in his voice. His hair was silver and unwashed, pulled into a ponytail that looked like a rung out mop. His beard equally unwashed, but thankfully was trimmed close to his face.

"That's no reason to neglect your duties as a Council Master, Sool." Another Master snarled.

"You always were quick to anger, Master...I seem to have forgotten you name." A slight grin crept across his face.

A flash of anger and embarrassment shot through the Force, so strong that even Serbrina could feel it. Msster Sool only smiled and gave a quick wink as the other Master turned a dark shade of red.

"Enough." Master Pu'io said firmly, "This Council meeting is to decide the fate of Padawan Serbrina, if she should stay in the Order we must decide for her a new Master. If you are here to do anything else that that Master Sool, please hold it in until we are done."

Sool nodded, "of course, of course, she is the reason why I am here."

The other Masters all turned to stare at him, but it was Pu'io that spoke, "Explain."

Sool gestured with his walking stick, "I've been standing out there ever since she walked in here. From the start I've been tuned to her and you all. I have to say I'm impressed by her abilities, so strong and yet she does not even know she is using them. Amazing."

The Masters exchanged confused looks, before turning the attention to Serbrina, starring at her in an attempt to gleam what Sool was talking about. The confusion was deep on all their faces. Prompting Pu'io to say, "yes, she has a strong connection, but that is not ability. Surely you know that Sool?"

Again, the old man nodded, "very true, but she has been using the Force. The entire time she has been in here. Every time she spoke every thought she had, drew on the Force." Sool could see that he had lost his fellow Masters. It was understandable, they did not know what he knew, they had not been to the places he had. The Jedi Order loved its history and teachings, but once a piece of history was lost it could not be taught and the students of the future would not know. Knowledge was a core tenant of the Jedi Order, for this exact reason, but these Master, like many before them, had stopped acquiring it.

"We all know the story of how Padawan Serbrina came to us?" The other Masters nodded. "And that she was told a different story, one that was more friendly to the mind of a child?" Again, they nodded. Sool looked at Serbrina, the confusion had infected her, she had only heard one story of how she came to the order, but it was a lie. The Masters had heard the truth. "Tell us Padawan, how did you come to the Order?"

Serbrina was hesitant. This was a test, but she did not know what she was being tested on. Could they have lied to her about her family? She did not remember them, she had been younger than most when she was taken in by the Order. Could she have come here by some other means? She told them the lie that she had been told. "I was found on Corellia, my parents were laborers in a shipyard, they had three other children. When I was found to be strong in the force, I was given to the Order. They were struggling and it was a relief to them and me that I was going to be raised somewhere better."

The Masters looked horrified. One was tightening his grip on his lightsaber as he sat with stricken expression. The others were in various states of the same emotion. Except Master Sool, he was smiling ear to ear. Her story was a lie, they knew it, she knew it before she spoke. Her words resonated as truth in the minds of the Masters. Knowing it was a lie, Serbrina had them believing it was the truth, without doubt.

"Amazing is it not?" He boomed joyously.

"I don't understand Sool. What was that?" Pu'io voice was an attempt to be even and restrained, but it wasn't.

"I expected more from a Council of Masters, it seems the Jedi Order has lost more knowledge than it has retained." The Force rippled with anger, shame, and agreement. "She's a natural Illusionist, a class of Jedi that have not been seen since before Revan's rebellion almost 2000 years ago. Now they mostly manifest as those gifted with visual and audible illusions, but never pursued as main skill. Not in the same way combat and politics are." He said the last sentence accusingly; the other Masters gave off a palpable annoyance.

"You know that's not the truth of it. Politics is a necessity; the Republic is fragile at best and needs our guidance." A young Master said energetically.

Master Sool waved him off, "I'm not here to argue the moral failings of the Order."

"Why are you here then?" Pu'io questioned. "To tell us that this Padawan is skilled in a long dead practice? I doubt that is the case, speak your intentions Sool."

Master Sool bowed his head at Pu'io. "Very well. I will take this Padawan as my own."

The angry Master blurted out, "No, this power too dangerous, too tempting. She easily implanted a false truth into our minds on a subject that we know the truth of. What if she was using that power on Master Olpa? What if she had been controlling Olpa to do her bidding, consciously or not, it's too great a risk."

Master Sool waved him off, "a life of farming is below a Padawan of this talent."

"Not farming. Exile. We must strip her of connection to the Force and cast her out." The angry Master was standing now his arm pointing towards the massive window.

Sool himself stood and faced the angry Master. The old man looked feeble, hunched, unable to stand without the walking stick. His eyes though, shown something Serbrina had never seen before, they practically glowed. A pressure filled the room, the air got heavy as a distant sound began to grow louder in her ears.

Pu'io could not hide his surprise. "You have never taken a student before, why now?"

The pressure relented, the sound stopped. Master Sool's eyes cleared of the glow and his turned back from stone. There were many reasons why he was taking her as his Padawan. One being out of pure spite for the modern Jedi Order. They had grown stagnant, rutted in their own sense of self-importance. Another being that he was old and would join the Force soon, he wanted to pass on something of himself. It was selfish, he knew, but he long to pass on the knowledge that he had acquired, maybe even pass on his love for finding the lost. The girl was his chance. A Padawan that no one else wanted, for one reason or another, was his to attempt to mold into something that galaxy had no seen in a thousand years. A true Jedi.

"Because if I don't, you'll kill her." They knew he meant metaphorically, but the words still stung and had an unpleasant connotation. In essence though, Master Sool was right.

"Could it be true?" Padawan Serbrina's voice battled against the wind assaulting the landing platform. The roof of the Jedi Temple had small landing pads, reserved for emergencies and Council Masters. Master Sool had practically dragged her down the Council tower, whisking her outside to wait for his ship to be brought up from the hanger below. Even in the elevator it seemed that he was willing it to go faster. It was obvious he did not want to be at the Temple, possibly even on the planet. Serbrina could only guess wasn't willing to test his mood by asking.

"Could what be true?" His voice raised because of the wind, but had a hint of annoyance from having to wait to leave. Master Sool might be a Council Master, but he didn't want to be. It was bestowed up him because of deeds, seniority, and the fact that he was an empty seat allowing the schemers to breathe a little easier as they plotted.

"Could I have influenced Master Olpa? Did I somehow make her betray the Order?" Her raised voice could not hide the pain that was starting to surface.

Sool took a moment to think before replying. "You are young and want many things. Your will is easily forced unto other people, but it only extends so far." He turned to look at her, his old green eyes locking into silvery blue. "I was only a meter or two further away from you than the Council and was able to resist your power easily enough. You might be a natural, but your influence isn't that strong yet. As soon as Master Olpa left you, whatever you think you might have done would have subsided."

Serbrina sighed in relief. She didn't know if she could live with the death of a council master on her conscious. It would have too much for sure. Or maybe the actual death would not have been, but knowing that she had it within her power to cause a death like that. No, that didn't seem to bother her either. Maybe people knowing it was her would have been too much to bear.

She watched the speeders fly past in their organized chaos, trying to figure out what made her feel bad about this situation. Olpa's death or taking the blame for it? Out of the corner of her eye she Master Sool glance at her. Could he know what she is thinking? Did she suck at masking her emotions so much that he could read her like a book? Too many questions. Serbrina needed to know more. About her talents, Olpa, and Master Sool.

The ship finally came up from the hanger and ground crew cleared them to board. The ship was a modest converted freighter. Nothing special, certainly not anything Master Olpa would have flown. Serbrina was a little disappointed by the ship, but quickly reminded herself that her former Master was Exchange. It was a brick-style freighter with the cockpit centered in the front lower section, appearing to be almost a bubble of glass imitating a chin. Four large engines looked squished together on the back end, leaving Serbrina to wonder if that had been an addition and not stock. The interior was homely, carpeted floors, imitation wood paneling, a hologram fireplace in the dining area. The cargo hold was above the crew section, but was seldom used. There were half a dozen crew cabins but only one was furnished beyond a simple mattress. Besides the dining area there wasn't much in creature comforts. Sools cabin was only slightly less drab and barren than he vacant cabins.

Serbrina imagined that Master Sool had on more than one occasion landed this ship on some backwater planet and used it as a cottage or cabin. She followed Sool to the cockpit, which was as far from the communal area of the ship as one could aesthetically get. Wires hung free, tape kept panels from falling, more tape kept the pilots chair together, and there was blinking red light next to a speaker that had been left hanging from its socket by the single wire. She wanted to run of the ship, but Sool took control of the ship like he was one with it. A quick bang of his fist on the console and the light stopped blinking, a few seconds later the ship was lifting from the pad and trudging towards space without so much as a shudder. Serbrina had expected the ship's frame to scream from stress, but she only the hum of the drives.

Serbrina had watched the ascent for only a few minutes before returning to the common area. It was cozy there, even peaceful. She took a seat at the dining table, the chair was comfortable, but worn. The holo-fire was crackling while a vent underneath pushed heat out. When she closed her eyes, it was almost a real fire, almost. It felt like only a few minutes had passed before she felt the distinctive jolt of the ship entering Hyperspace. A moment later Master Sool walked in and started the process of making tea. Serbrina watched him, how second nature it all was to him to use the Force casually to his convenience. Her teachers would have thracked her with a training saber for doing what he was doing. Especially for using the Force to bring the sugar to himself when it was less than a couple feet away. Master Olpa might have been a criminal, but she had never used the for in a trivial way.

"You were taught that it is wrong to use the Force casually, were you not?" Sool said without looking at her.

Caught off guard Serbrina stuttered a reply, "Y-yes."

"And yet, here I am doing exactly that. I must be a Sith." He snorted. He sat across from her, tea mug in one hand, walking stick in the other. "You have questions, let's hear them."

In truth, she didn't know where to start. 'why me?' was a good one, but rather plain. She ran a few others through her head before deciding on, "Why me?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, then took a sip of tea, waiting for the next question.

What kind of answer is that? She screamed internally. "Why don't you know, Master?"

"Because I don't know." a sip of tea followed, this one he slurped.

It took everything Serbrina had to center herself. As a youngling the instructors had played this game, ask why to every answer. "Are the Sith evil?" of course, "why?" because they use the Dark Side of the force, "why do they do that?" because Light Side doesn't match their complexion? Thrack.

"Am I going to get answer that answers my question?" Serbrina asked as calmly as she could.

Master Sool debated saying 'I don't know' but decided that the girl had been through enough for one day. "If I have the answer, I will give it to you." Slurp.

She tried to think of a question that he would have an answer too. He seemed pretty knowledgeable on her talent with the Force, she decided to start there. "What can you tell me about Jedi Illusionist?"

Sool smirked, this was a good question. "Jedi Illusionist were the most powerful of their time. It's said that one Illusionist even made a Sith armada think a star was going supernova, causing them to flee, leaving an outmatched Jedi fleet to secure the system." He spoke with pride. "That's why Revan targeted them specifically when he turned to the Dark Side. So long ago, but he destroyed so much in his darkness, that I fear the Order will never recover." His voice filled with pain.

"What do you keep bringing up that name? Who was Revan?" Serbrina asked with genuine interest.

Sool looked passed her in thought, trying to find the right words to explain what he meant to say. "There are a few people though out history that leave echoes. That have such an impression on the galaxy and the Force that their deeds can be felt hundreds and thousands of years later. Revan was one of those people." His eyes stayed locked on the wall behind Serbrina, "because of him the Jedi fell into three wars. The last one nearly destroyed the Order and plunged us into the cold war that we still fight with the Sith Empire." It was not the thought of Revan that caused him to stare off, but the thought of having that influence in the Force. Revan had just been the last in a long line, he would not be the last of that line. "Now the Council sees a Reven-to-be in any young Jedi that does not conform to the norm. They rather hurt an innocent than to take the risk of allowing another to rise to that level of power."

Serbrina understood. Sool didn't revere the man, but what the man was. Much in the same way she had revered Master Olpa when she had first become her Padawan. It had been a wonderful feeling to be in the presence of someone infinitely more than her. At least that is how it started. Now she was feeling jaded, knowing that Masters and the Council were just as flawed as she was, there was no one to look up to, no model to follow. Her life as a Jedi would be less guided than she thought, maybe Master Sool would be different, but she doubted it. More than likely he was using her to spite the Council and would discard her as soon as she wasn't a thorn in their side. She gave it a couple years until she was facing a life of farming as a failed Padawan again.

"So, Revan leaves an echo over a thousand years ago and I'm suspect now because my talents are outside the norm?" Serbrina asked unenthusiastically. Master Sool nodded as a reply. Serbrina leaned back in her chair, slouched with her arms relaxed on the table in front of her. "So where are we going, Master?"

Sool placed his cup on the table before fishing out a datapad from his robes. After a few seconds of looking at it, he replied "Korriban, should be there in a few hours." His voice was flat.

Serbrina was taken off guard, "what?" She didn't even try to hide her shock, "why?"

"You were told a lie, I figured the best place for us to start would be to find you the truth." His hand returned to his tea cup and took a loud slurp.

The lie of how she ended up with the Jedi, but with everything that had been going on, she had forgotten. "Why Korriban though, Master?"

"Interesting thing, your DNA is not in the Jedi or Republic database. Well, yours is, or course, but lineage isn't. Meaning your parents are not from either. That leaves the Sith Empire, the Outer Rim, and Mandalorian clans as possibilities. Given your nature in the Force, the Sith seemed like a good start." He went to slurp his tea again, but the cup was empty, and he let out a quiet groan of disappointment. He rose from the dining table, placed his cup in the dishwasher before making his way back to the cockpit. Just as he was about to be out of Serbrina's line of sight he said, "oh, and your footlocker is in the aft emergency airlock, you should go get that."

Again, she didn't hide her shock, "What, why?"

"If you had obsessed over losing you material things, I would have spaced them, but you seem to know how to let go of things. I don't see any temptation to fear." He walked away.

Master Sool left Serbrina with many questions. Most of them she didn't even know how to ask. She wondered if it could be true that her parents were Sith and if that would change anything about herself. Would Sool leave her on Korriban to become the thing she had be raised to fight? She knew for a near certainty that if her parents were Sith, it would be another nail in coffin that was her Jedi career, maybe she should prepare herself to join the other side. It happened all the time, Jedi became Sith, Sith became Jedi. Most were spies, but not all. Serbrina forced herself out of her chair and made her way to the aft emergency airlock. Sool had told her to pick a cabin and call it home.

For the next few hours that was all she could do.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Cold War started a little over a thousand years ago with the death of the last Sith Emperor. History is hazy on how the Emperor died, whether it was a Jedi and Republic strike team or a Sith coup. The result was the same, the war ended, and the fighting stopped for the most part. Sith space had expanded greatly from its power base on Dromund Kass, pushing its borders to the Hapes Cluster, Wild Space and nearly encircling Hutt Space. That much territory should have given them all the resources they need to continue the war, but mismanagement and heavy Republic resistance had inflicted a deep wound. The Republic had faced a similar situation having been overrun at the start of the war, it had expended itself retaking territory. Having pushed the Sith back as far as it could. What resulted was a stalemate that was being fought to exhaustion from planet to planet. Both sides knew that it could not continue and neither could afford to wait the other out.

A cease fire was signed shortly after the Emperor's death. It ended the war, but not the hostilities. Planetary governments and revolutionaries sprouted over night being used to retain control or wrest control by both superpowers without using their own forces. It was a shadow war. It was keeping the peace to both side did not draw too much attention to it. The was free movement between the territories of the superpowers. A Sith embassy was on Coruscant and a Republic embassy on Dromund Kass.

Occasionally one side would make a piece of the Shadow War public in an attempt to embarrass or further debilitate the other side, Such as the case with Master Olpa's death on Nar Shaddaa. The Sith had information that the Jedi did not and they were not shy about leaking it to galactic news sources.

A scandal involving a Jedi Master was worse than one involving a Senator, the public trusted the Jedi to have their interest at heart, unlike a politician. So when Coruscantii HoloNews ran the story, the Jedi felt the backlash. They needed to know the truth or at least enough of it to expose the Sith counter-propaganda that had been reported in the news. Unfortunately, there was only one place to start, Padawan Serbrina. As Master Olpa's Padawan she would have a better idea of where to begin to find the truth. With the help of her new Master that was obsessed with the truth and had a talent for finding the lost, the Council knew that the pair were the only real chance they had. Of course, if the truth was something that cast the Order in a worse light, they could keep it internal, and take their licks they had already been dealt. It was far from ideal, but it needed to be done.

Per the Great War treaty signed so many years ago, all opposing faction ships must drop out of hyperspace at least six hours away, by sublight speed, from their target destination. Master Sool had followed that rule and spent the last five hours and forty minutes starring at the barren red landscape of Korriban. He had watched a dust storm engulf the Valley of the Dark Lords, and quietly thanked the force that their destination was on the other side of the planet. A quiet beep from the communication console alerted him he had a message. When he looked at the sender he let out a groan. Sool used the ship's intercom to summon Serbrina to the cockpit. He read the entire message while waiting for, which only took a minute, the was not much in the way of detail.

Serbrina walked into the cockpit, momentarily in awe of the huge planet they drifted towards. She had seen planets from space before, but Korriban was different. Nar Shaddaa had been a live with a sound you could faintly hear while in space. Korriban was not like that at all. It felt angry, hurt, but with pride and resolve. It was a storm of different emotions that she could barely make sense of. It took more effort than she would have liked to bring her attention to Master Sool, "You summoned, Master?"

He grunted a response, "the Council has given us a mission. It seems the public have found out about you former Master and the Council wants us to find a reason to call it all a Sith lie."

Serbrina was confused, "it's not a lie though, they found a datapad with evidence that showed she was selling secrets and employed by the Exchange."

"They want us to find a better truth, one that doesn't make the Jedi look bad." Sool spoke as if this had happened before. Serbrina wondered how many times.

She took a seat in one the tape for cushion chairs. She stopped trying to take her eyes off the planet, "so does that mean I wont find my truth?"

"I don't see why we cannot do both. We are here after all, might as well make some inquiries into Olpa while we do the same for your parents." He tapped a few buttons and slowed the ship.

Serbrina watched a Sith Customs ship approach them and listened to them ask Master Sool a dozen questions. After answering each one in turn, they scanned the ship for mounted weapons, ordinance signatures, a life signs. Being content with what they found they cleared the Jedi ship to approach the planet,. Directing them to follow Flight Control's instructions at all times or risk being shot down.

"My contact will be the best person to ask about both matters, he owes me anyway." Sool said casually.

"Why don't you just tell me the truth?" She asked gently, almost afraid he might actually do that.

Sool ran his head through his beard while the other rested on the flight stick, "because I don't know it, not fully. All I, and the Council, know is that you were found in the remains of a bombed out hospital on Bandomeer. You about three years old, alone, crying, and sick. Being a border world it was shared by both sides, as was the hospital. So the Jedi didn't ask many questions when they took you in and told you a nicer tale."

"Why didn't they check my DNA, as you did, Master? Why take in a possible Sith kid?"

"Because you were another body that filled the Jedi ranks. The cold war is a logistical one, whoever has the greater manpower, the ships, and money will win. Not to mention you could be Mandalorian, their space is pretty close by. Traders from all over the galaxy came to Bandomeer for it resources, you could a trader's kid." He looked at her and could see that she was still worried. It was a hard thing to find out your life was a lie, especially like this, but it was better she knew. It was also good that she would be doing the leg work, less chance of not having closure.

Sool let the auto-pilot do the work of flying the ship into the spaceport. Flight Control preferred having direct control of foreign ships and Sool wasn't one to pick a fight with underpaid Imperials. They couldn't take their frustrations out on their chain of command, but they could take them out on Sool if he gave them half a reason. Its why he had a crate of liquor, sweets, and myriad of other conveniences displayed in the open. He would tell the Dock Master that it was there and to help himself. Giving a the dock workers a reason not to "accidentally break something."

Lord Vins office was filled with an assortment of relics and trinkets. He took pride in displaying things that others wanted, it had even become somewhat of a pass time for him. Vin ran his hand over the blade of a sword that was the family heirloom of his closest rival. Every time the other Sith came into Vin's office, he saw the sword displayed and mocking him. It was a casual reminder that Vin was better than him, or at least, had more money and influence. In the Empire those usually meant better.

Another piece was a statue of a submitting foe. Not too big to be absurd, but taller than Vin was, the statue had been carved by some alien long before Vin had been born. It had been his Master's before Vin usurped him. When his Master had fled, this statue was all he had left behind, centered in Vin's new office, a token to his victory. That was the misconception about the Sith, at least modern Sith. Masters typically did not die to their students. Most simply retire, some vanish, others die of old age. A student killing their teacher is a rare thing, mostly done in the militant arm of Sith. Vin had always been amazed that the Sith of old had been able to keep the ideology alive when it seemed like everyone was dying to students that thought they were fully trained. _How could they be? When they haven't lived or experienced half of what their Master's had?_

Vin had taken his Master position by exposing a scandal in which his Master had been plotting to against his own superior. Plotting was expected, but in the intelligence community, getting caught would end your career. Vin made sure his Master was caught. He knew that he was barely half the intelligence officer his Master had been. So he had set to work building his contacts cementing himself in his new position. There were others that thought they could do the job better than him, some of them probably could have, but it was Vin's job. He meant to keep it. He had had a chance to prove himself shortly after taking the job. The Bandomeer government was planning to introduce legislation that would effectively make the planet a Republic territory. The Empire depended on the planet for its mines and farms too much to let it slip away. Or to be taken. It had taken work, but the politicians behind the legislation had been taken care of and no one had tried to change the planets open borders policy since.

A beep at his door told him that his guest had arrived. He gracefully walked back to his desk and pressed the button that would unlock the door, letting the pair in. He stayed standing behind his desk as Master Sool and an unknown girl walked into his office. Vin was glad to see Sool, they shared an interest in lost knowledge and in keeping the peace between the two powers. "Master Sool." he said bowing his head slightly.

"Lord Vin." Sool mimicked the head bow. "Allow me to introduce Padawan Serbrina, my student." Serbrina also dipped her head.

"A student?" Vin said over-dramatically. "Well let me be the first to offer you a chance to join the great Empire." He spoke as he grabbed a tray of refreshments. Placing them on his desk before the pair, he gestured with his hand, "as you can see we have cookies." He waved for both of them to sit down as he did. "Seriously, though, any student that Master Sool is interested in, I am interested in. My offer stands."

"Stuff it, Vin." Master Sool said while reaching for a cookie. "Did you find anything on Olpa or the data I sent you?" He made a face of satisfaction as he took a bite of cookie. "Still have old Ma'cei as your cook I taste."

"Yes, I do. She wants me to go to the market and get her someone she can train to take her place. She has the idea that she won't be around much longer." He said with a trace of sadness.

It dawned on Serbrina that Ma'cei was a slave and that Sool was casual about it. She didn't like it.

"About the data, its very interesting." He said as he pulled out a datapad. "First, Master Olpa was a very Sithy woman, she had her fingers in a lot if illegal pies. All the information I could find is on this." he jiggled the datapad in his hand. Then took a breath and said, "The DNA, part of it at least, is in the Sith database." Vin raised his eyebrows and asked Sool, "Didn't you wonder why it wasn't in your database? The Jedi started keeping official DNA records after the Great Hyperspace War. Many families have been keeping them since the dawn of time, which would have been compiled in that database as well. Even if it was in ours, majority of us came from your side at one point or another."

"I had wondered that, yes." Sool admitted.

Serbrina tried to recall the details of the war he mentioned. She seemed to recall it was the first major conflict between Jedi and Sith since the Schism that sent the Dark Side followers into hiding in the unknowns of space. It took place a few thousand years ago.

Vin lay the datapad in the desk in front of Sool, "this DNA, can be traced back to before that war. This is original Sith blood, not Sith as we know it now, but the species. What you have here is inter-species DNA between Sith and Human." Lord Vin paused to let that sink in, noticing that the Padawan was turning a new shade of white. _It's her blood!_ "This, however, is different." He pointed to a series of markers for Sool to follow. "This is the maternal DNA, which is mostly dormant Sith genes with active human ones. Meaning the mother's line presented as human, but was predominately Sith, close to eighty percent. She would have looked like as human as you or me and not like a Sith with the red skin, yellow eyes, and face tendrils. I could get more accurate numbers if I ran this by the geneticists, but they would want to make an official record."

Lord Vin studied the girl a discreetly as he could. She had sharp cheekbones and prominent chin, her brow clearly defined and her nose small for her face. He tried to picture her with red skin and found it surprisingly easy. Her red hair was dark, probably looked black in low light. Yes, it was her.

Master Sool did not have any words to say. His new Padawan was almost half Sith, maybe more depending on the father. Vin was right when he said many people could claim to have Sith blood, but none could say honestly say they were over a tenth blooded. "What about the paternal DNA?" He asked, his words heavy.

"No clue on the lineage other than its not Sith, its something else." Vin leaned forward, his arms crossed on the desk and looked at Sool. With great interest he said, "this person, whosoever DNA this is, would be near royalty in the Sith Empire. This blood is older than the last Emperor's, this is ancient, and strong." He glanced at Serbrina as casually as he could without giving away that he knew it was her. It was interesting that Sool's first student happened to be one that was of strong Sith blood. It made Lord Vin want her as his own, even more.

"Frankly, I would not be shocked if the mother is sitting on the Dark Council." Lord Vin made a note to look into the female members of the Council, maybe one of them had a secret to share.

"You haven't checked?" Serbrina asked abruptly.

"I couldn't without raising too much suspicion." Vin didn't lie, but now he knew that Sool was in the possession of the person that had this DNA, he would.

The walk back to the ship had been quiet and without incident. Lord Vin had given Sool the datapad with information on Olpa and Serbrina's lineage, on the condition that they were even, all debts paid. Serbrina was curious as to what debt a Sith Lord could owe a Jedi Master, but decided it was a question for later. Master Sool had a look on his face that indicated clearly to her that he did want to speak, only to think. Once on the ship he had gone to his room, leaving her to wander the ship with nothing to do. He had not stocked it with any training bots, the was no exercise room, not even a library. She wasn't one to sit and meditate, she had much better success with exercise or training, and she really need center herself. She felt out of place, lost and drifting.

Beyond food and beds, there was nothing on this ship. She retrieved her credit chip from her footlocker. There was a decent sum still on it, just under two thousand credits. She knew it would be dangerous to walk Korriban by herself, but she doubted her Master was in the mindset to say no. So she grabbed a cloak to wear over her favored style of outfit, quietly thanked her previous self for choosing to wear the gray silk, and left.

It wasn't hard to blend into the crowd of the spaceport. It was large and busy, not to mention most everyone was wearing a shade of gray or black. The most colorful thing on her today was her dark red hair, which was tied in a bun and stuffed under a hood. Spaceport shops typically had everything you could ever want. Crew need all sorts of things like parts, food, furniture. It could all be found at most ports. She didn't think a Sith spaceport would be any different, it might only come in gray or black, but she was sure she could find something to bring back to the ship. Serbrina stopped at a fitness shop. They sold everything from vitamins, enhancers, and what she was looking for, gym equipment. A modular machine caught her eye. It served as a number of different machines that could be configured from the central structures, even had a treadmill with incline. The price wasn't too bad either and left her with eight hundred credits left.

She thought about picking up some food, but she wasn't picky about what she ate and Master Sool didn't seem to be either. She walked around a bit more before seeing a Force themed shop. Maybe there would be some training aids or a datacards that could start a library. Serbrina entered timidly, keeping an eye for any Sith that might be shopping for their own ship. She hadn't been concerned in the fitness store, but this one catered to the likes she wished to avoid. She cursed when she realized her fear had been right. Two Sith, roughly her age, were loudly and obnoxiously going through the aisles.

"Well what do we have here? A Jedi!" The bigger of the two said as he made his way towards her.

Serbrina's cloak covered most of her body, allowing her to grip her saber without the boys noticing. She would not draw it, not yet, it had to be self defense.

"Padawans aren't Jedi," the smaller one pushed passed her and stuck his head out of the shop and quickly glanced around the concourse. "Her Master is close by somewhere."

"Yeah but not here." The bigger one said maliciously. "What shall we do to you, Padawan?"

Serbrina kept her cool, "let me shop?"

The bigger one laughed loudly and annoyingly, the smaller one only snorted. The smaller one had stayed behind her, blocking her exit while the Big one blocked her advance.

"Nah. I think your credits are going to do some shopping for us." He held out his had for her credit chip.

Before she could react the smaller one pulled her hood down. They were trying to get to her, to get her uncomfortable and off balance. She wasn't flustering though.

"Well come on." The big one was getting impatient. The little one was trying to impress the big one and ripped Serbrina's cloak clean off. The clasp snapped against her neck, she kept herself from wincing. Her previously concealed grip on her lightsaber was no longer concealed. The big one stepped back and produced his own saber. "So, you think can take me?"

Serbrina didn't think she could, she knew she could. The boy was bigger than her, but pudgy, relying solely on the Force to fuel is combat skill, probably never ran without drawing on it. While she had learned at a fourteen, that having a strong body and using the Force to supplement, was a better tactic. It allowed her to stave off physical and mental exhaustion longer than her opponent. Most Jedi focus solely on cardio, probably the same with the Sith, well not the one in front of her. Not Serbrina. She trained with weights and resistance. To build and tone muscle for a greater natural strength and endurance without needing to draw on the Force as much, if at all. She figured she could over power the big one with two maybe three strikes. The small one would run away.

The small one pushed her, she could feel him doing it before he did, and maintained her balance. The big one went to push her back with his meaty hand, but she turned her shoulders, his hand met only air and he stumbled forward. While he was off balance and hunched in front of her, she hip checked him hard enough to drive him into a display rack of training goggles. The small one went to shove her again. Serbrina turned on her heel, grabbed his one of his arms and swung him around dropping him on top of the big one who was trying to stand. It was time for her to leave. She grabbed her cloak from the ground and made it two steps back on the concourse before she her the distinctive hiss of an igniting lightsaber. Her heart dropped. This wasn't going to be good.

Lord Vin watched from across the concourse, he was concealed behind a display, but could see what was happening between the three students. He knew of the two Sith, they were Apprentices to some mid-level paper pushers, but the pair had managed to cause trouble on more than one occasion. Now they were picking a fight with a Jedi. This would be interesting. He reached his hand into bag of popped kernels he carried, grabbing as many as he could at once, and eating them while his eyes stayed fixed on the trio.

Serbrina turned, dropping her cloak away from her as she did. Her instructors had said she was a natural with a saber, but she couldn't help to think that it had been one of her illusions. That thought gave her an idea. The boys were not nearly as strong as the Jedi Council or Master Sool, they wouldn't be able to resist her as easily. Serbrina took a breath and reached out to the big ones mind. Speaking as if it her thoughts were his own inner voice, _"I'm going to get beaten by a Jedi. My friend is going to mock me until I'm just like he is. A follower..."_

Before she could finish what she wanted to say the big one swung his blade at the little one, "I'll never be like you!"

The little one was taken completely off guard, barely dodging the blade that meant to sever his head. He rebounded quickly, parrying a few strikes with his own blade, before landing a solid punch to his friends head.

The big one recoiled from the punch. He looked at his friend, then saber, then at Serbrina. He screamed and charged her. A couple feet away from her the boy swung wildly, Serbrina dodged the swing by rolling to the right. When she stood she saw the boy was still recovering from his reckless charge. She quickly decided to try something else. The boy composed himself and faced her, and she projected and image of her moving left in a guard stance, while she really moved right. The boy had been looking right at her, only a few feet away, and he was following her left. His friend yelled, but the big one screamed to shut up. Serbrina backed away a few steps, she wanted to test her abilities. Her projection one armed thrust the saber forward at the boy's center.

He parried and the projection went with the momentum of the parry, spinning on a heel and bringing the saber above the head, the next attack came in a two handed overhead swing. Her projection stepped forward in rhythm with the swing to maximize the force of the strike. The boy went to defend but the projection hammered the boys improperly held saber, wrenching it free from his hands and it skid a few feet away. He instinctively reached for it, but the projection of Serbrina brought another blow down. The boy screamed, squeezed his eyes shut and raised his hands to block the lightsaber. A long second passed before his eyes opened. The projection was gone and he wasn't dead.

Serbrina hadn't waited for the boy to open his eyes before grabbing her cloak and running into the crowd. With luck he wouldn't chase her and she could make it back to the ship without further incident. Hopefully before the gym system was delivered. She doubted Master Sool would be amused by having his thoughts disturbed by a courier asking him to sign for a delivery. If she was really lucky he wouldn't find out about the boys or that little fight, at least not until they were off planet, and less likely to cause a diplomatic incident. She turned the corner at a light jog and stopped dead in her tracks. Lord Vin stood before her. A smile on his face and a bag of popped kernels in his hand. He took a couple small steps towards her.

"That was truly impressive Padawan Serbrina. Truly."

"I don't know what you are talking about, Lord Vin." She was breathing heavy, it made her lie even less convincing.

"I'm sure you don't." He grinned and started to walk past her towards the main concourse, when he was even with her he leaned in and whispered, "by the way, your eyes are yellow."

Serbrina resumed her run, this time at a dead sprint. He was lying he had to be, that was what Sith do, they lie. _Like I had to the Council. Like I want to do Master Sool. _When she returned to the ship she ran straight to her room and the lavatory attached to it. The mirror was dirty but she could see her reflection clear enough. Her eyes were fading back to the silvery blue she had always known, but hint of yellow was still there. Serbrina screamed. Tears ran down her face and she collapsed to the floor of the lavatory. Her crying reduced to quiet sobs.

His Padawan had not been quiet when she boarded the ship, peaking Sool's curiosity. She had sneaked off quietly enough, he had expected her to do the same on her return. When Sool heard the scream he went to investigate. He knocked on the frame of her open door and waited for her to appear from the lavatory. She was in distress, he could see it and feel it. He wrapped her in a hug and she timidly embraced him back. When Master Sool asked what was the matter, he was told the tale of her adventure in the spaceport. Sool realized that he had been selfish. Putting his want to meditate before her need of a mentor.

Right now she needed someone to help her with the pain of a parent being the exact thing she was raised to resist. If that hospital had not been bombed, Serbrina would have been a Sith. It was a lot to take in and to process. He had not been there for her. Instead he had shut himself away, leaving her to find a way to process herself. While she didn't seek out the fight, the Force around her did. Her internal conflict had fed the boys' hunger for it. What should have been harmless banter turned to a duel.

Vin's presence did not surprise him. Sool knew it had been a risk to go to him. The Sith was smart and would have figured it out, but Sool hadn't known that his Padawan would be this, interesting. Vin might have been playfully curious to Sool's face, but behind his back Vin would bring the full might of his ability to wrest Serbrina away from Sool and the Light. Vin would be a fixture in their lives for the foreseeable future.

A chime brought them out of the embrace. Tears streaks marked Serbrina's face and Sool could feel the wetness from her tears on his tunic. She told him she had purchased a gym system, expecting to get a lecture, he simply nodded and told it had been a good idea. Sool went to sign for the delivery. Leaving Serbrina to clean herself up and recenter herself with meditation. Normally she meditated through exercise, but she was too exhausted. She tossed her only pillow on the floor and sat cross legged on it. It took longer than ever before, but she was able to clear her mind. Nothingness and Everything, together and separate. Her mind flowed with the Force, ebbing and flowing through the currents.

He thoughts went Nar Shaddaa and the apartment she had lived in with Master Olpa. She felt her presence pulled towards an air vent in the floor. She could not see in to it nor remove the grate. She stopped trying, letting the Force guide her on. To a forest world with giants stone pyramids.

She felt at peace again.


End file.
